


The Protector

by mytraitorousheart



Category: Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-22
Updated: 2015-05-18
Packaged: 2018-01-13 10:54:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1223620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mytraitorousheart/pseuds/mytraitorousheart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the streets of New Orleans, the supernatural entities reigned supreme, the humans merely food in order to dispel their cravings until a phantom vampire appears saving young girls who fall prey to the creatures of the night. Klaus in an effort to control all areas of his kingdom searches for the woman protecting the humans and is shocked at what he finds. Three-shot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Her name lived only in whispers. A secret. A weapon. A bargaining chip. Those who knew about her did not dare mention it in fear of their lives; those that were foolish enough to utter it had their silence coerced when their tongues were removed. He was a merciless man and he did not take chances. Especially with her. No one was to know, to the world he would appear harsh, hard with no weaknesses whilst in the privacy of his quarters, in the deep chambers of his heart, she would reign supreme.

 

* * *

 

“At the end of the alley, that’s the last place I could trace her to,” Davina’s voice echoed through the alleyway, her straight face not letting out any clue as to whether she knew more than she was letting on. Klaus nodded. The girl had been acting strange since the death of Celeste and the other witches had caused her resurrection but as they had been the ones to return her to the living world she was indebted to them and had continued to help them despite her original misgivings.

As they ventured deeper into the alleyway and the shadows fell, Davina gasped. The fresh body at her feet barely resembling the vampire that had joined their service just three months previously.

“My god,” Marcel murmured, “Look what the bitch did to Arnaud, Klaus we need to stop her.” Marcel knelt down beside the vampire’s body and continued to inspect him as Klaus observed the scene around him.

“This blood,” Davina said as she took a swipe off the ashen walls, “It’s fresh but it does not belong to Arnaud.”

“He was probably feeding,” Klaus contributed, “And she interfered in a last minute attempt to save his victim, there is a reason they call her _Le protecteur_ , she saves the humans.”

“Which is one more reason why we need to get rid of her,” Marcel responded, rising to his feet and picking up Arnaud’s body, “We can’t have her providing charity services for our food.”

“It amazes me how she has eluded us for so long, the minute we get wind of her she disappears” Klaus mused.

“Well she is a superhero, according to the humans, they have that ability to slink into the shadows,” Marcel commented.

Klaus chuckled, “You and I both know, mate, that there are no such things as superheroes, simply supernatural entities with guilty consciences. I will guess she is a vampire from the bite marks on her victims, but she has to be a daywalker as many of her activities has taken place during the day. She knows enough about us to disguise her scent so that us or the wolves would not be able to find her. The way that she disposed with Arnaud and our other fellow comrades indicate that she has had plenty of experience with other vampires, so if she is not one of your scorned daywalkers she has come from another grouping. The only reason that we know that she is female was from one of the young ladies that she saved but because she wears a hood we do not know the color of her hair or any other distinguishing characteristics. In order to stop her, we need to predict her movements and be one step ahead of her.”

“So you have a rogue phantom in your kingdom, what we going to do about it?” Marcel asked.

“She only saves young girls,” Davina said, once again in that deadpan tone, “Perhaps if you put one in danger, you might be able to trap her.”

Klaus narrowed his eyes at Davina, what was the witch playing at? Surely she would not want to help them stop the saving of innocent humans.

Interpreting his expression, Davina shrugged, “I’m curious.”

* * *

 

_One week later_

All the reports of her ‘savings’ say that they happened in and around the French Quarter and as Davina walked that familiar path, she had a strange feeling as if someone was watching her. She smiled as she saw Marcel come towards her, she would not have trusted any other vampire with this. She knew their nature, she saw them in their element and knew how difficult it was for them to stop once they had started. But Marcel was different, he was careful and smart and he cared for her.

She stood on the corner, pretending to text her non-existent friends, as Marcel stalked around the corner before grabbing her. She barely had time to scream before he dragged her into the nearest alleyway, and attacked her neck. She was there in seconds; Davina’s scream was like a summoning to her

She flew in the alley, as graceful as a bird, but the strength with which she attacked Marcel was anything but graceful. Marcel fought back, his age and experience coming into play as he easily knocked her up against the wall and Davina got a good look at her. She wore dark clothes, a hooded sweatshirt and heavy army boots, she was not dressed as a hero or an angel, she was dressed as a worker, as someone who was doing a duty, a job. The hood that she wore largely obscured her face but Davina saw a stray curl of blonde hair escape. Davina cocked her head to the side, it was curious that this woman was so determined to hide her identity, it did not seem like she feared the other vampires. Why then did it matter if they knew who she was if she could simply escape from them over and over again?

As she knocked Marcel’s head against the trashcan, Klaus appeared at the end of the alleyway, using his vampire speed to cause her to lose balance, he gripped her by the neck, the force of the attack causing her hood to fall off her head and her blonde tresses to come loose.

Davina took in a sharp breath. _Le protecteur_ was beautiful. She was young, not much older than her, and her beauty must have floored Klaus too because he froze before lowering her onto the ground slowly.  It was odd because not much surprised Klaus, for a reactive and passionate man he usually tended to be constantly ahead of everyone else, but he was staring at _Le protecteur_ as if she was a ghost.

Davina moved closer just as she heard him whisper, “Caroline?”

* * *

 

_6 months earlier_

She stood in front of the dirty mirror in the bathroom of the cheap motel room that she was staying at. The toothbrush clutched firmly in her fist as it moved in a circular motion up and down, harder and harder against her teeth until her gums bled and her vampiric nature caused it to heal again.

She could still taste Amy’s blood on her tongue. Eight hours and the addictive juice had seeped into crevices of her mouth, leaving a delicious iron taste in its wake. Each time she moved to do something else she had that familiar feeling again as if something was stuck in her teeth. A piece of skin, some flesh, something that she had not retrieved the last time that she brushed her teeth and she would repeat the routine again.

Tears streamed down her face, she had it all under control, every last bit of her actions, until she no longer knew what she was doing and where her limits ended. Blood is her weakness, blood is her constant craving and when she saw that girl, near death, waiting for a savior, waiting for someone to help heal her, she could not stop herself for going in for the kill. She was already half dead you see. And it had been so long, oh so very long, since she had tasted warmth of blood of the vein, heard a pulse slow down, and felt the adrenaline that came with embracing her true nature.

It was supposed to be a onetime thing, no one was to know. The attack would be blamed on an animal or some vicious murderer like the one who had left her for dead, and Caroline would move on. Force herself to forget, trick herself into thinking that what she did was for the girl’s benefit, she took away her pain, the memories of her terrible ordeal would never haunt her. You see, Caroline knew what it was like to be a victim and would continue to remember it every day for eternity.

She had sufficiently talked herself into her excuses when two hours later Luke came clambering into her room. Elena and Bonnie were off trying to feel needed in Mystic Falls and she was trying to focus on her Theatre 101 revision. Luke launched himself on her, sobbing uncontrollably, it was a long period of time before she could coerce him to tell her what happened.

“It’s Amy,” he said between sobs, “She’s been killed, they say it was an animal attack.”

Caroline’s blood ran cold. Animal attack. She had those words placed together many times over the past couple of years, even more recently with the death of Megan. Could the Augustine Society be up and running again? Was Damon or Enzo on campus? The vampire population had grown so much that there were so many options as to who was responsible for Amy’s death.

Caroline had never met Amy. She knew of her from her recent friendship with Amy’s older brother, Luke, who also happened to be the TA in Caroline’s drama class. She knew that Amy was a freshman like her, but she was a business major. She knew that Amy had dark hair, that she had an odd obsession with Star Trek and that when her father left their family she cried for four days straight. But most of all, she knew that Luke adored her and made it his life’s mission to always take care of her, in a way that their father was unable to and now she was gone. And Luke was devastated.

It was only when she attended Amy’s memorial that the truth dawned on her. She studied the picture above the casket thoroughly and only then did she realize that she had seen that face before, lying on a pavement as she lowered her face down to tear into her carotid artery and finish the job.

She rushed out of the church, half expecting lightning to come down from the sky and strike her down for even entering a sacred place after what she did. She sent Luke a hurried apology text, saying that there was an emergency at home that she had to attend to, knowing that she would never be able to be in the same room as him again after what she did. She returned to her dorm room, her body moving in a mechanical fashion, not showing any emotions or reactions, she simply packed up her essentials and made her way to the nearest bus stop. She had to leave, she could not look back, because if she did she felt that just like Lot’s wife she would be turned into a pillar of salt, cemented in that place unable to run or move on.

But where would she go? The obvious answer was back to Mystic Falls but she knew that she needed to be alone, away from the threats and drama that came with the territory in what appeared to be the supernatural capital of the world. She also knew that she had to come to terms with what she did, because surely her friends would brush it aside, expect her to move on and help them defeat whoever was the big bad that week. Stefan would say some comforting words, assure her that they all had their weak moments, Elena would give her a sympathetic smile, Bonnie would avoid the issue, her eyes silently judging and Damon would enjoy her unhappiness far too much. No, she needed to get away, to learn how to take responsibility for her own actions, to repent, to heal and living under the excuses that her friends so easily dished out would not help her at all.

But yet, with all her confidence and growth, she simply was not strong enough to go to a place where everyone was a stranger, where she could not go for support and help when she needed it. Her mind brought up two options: Washington where her father’s former partner Stephen lived or Texas with her aunt. Both options were invaluable because that would be the first places her mother would look for her and she would call in Stefan or one of her other friends to bring her home. No, she needed a clean break, which was what she kept on repeating to herself as she sent the farewell messages to her mom and her friends, got rid of her phone and made her way to New Orleans.

**  
  
**

* * *

 

She did not know what to expect when she got there. If she believed Mystic Falls was the supernatural capital, it just proved how little she really knew. In New Orleans, the supernatural creatures ran wild and everyone gave into their deepest desires. It was an entirely different concept that she had to grasp, to live in a world where she did not have to be ashamed of what she is and she did not have to hide it.

Her first instinct was to go straight to him. The day in the forest when she toed the line between black and white and shaded it to make grey, she had not realized that every time he kissed her, every time they made love, every time he looked at her with those eyes full of hope and understanding, he was slowly erasing the line from her mind. On the days after the incident, she made her necessary apologies but her heart was long gone, not a day went by when she did not think of him, of that day, and when they would be reunited.

He promised her that he would never return, that he would never seek her out and as much as that was what she wanted, not to have to face her feelings for him, not to feel ashamed, it pained her a bit to see how easy it was for him to do, that he was able to walk away when her heart was still very much present in that forest. That day changed everything. It changed the way she saw him, the way she saw herself, and what she ultimately wanted for her life.

You see dreams are goals with fairy dust, and her goals were predetermined long before she became a vampire. She would go to college, get a degree, marry a nice man, move into a home in the suburbs and have 2.5 children. When she became a vampire she knew that she had to adapt her goals to make them fit better into her new life. Her dreams of marriage and children fell away and instead she dreamt of companionship with Tyler and travelling. And then after her breakup with Tyler, she dreamt of adventure, of having limitless fun, of studying everything that she was ever interested in and finding love on every continent. But right after that day in the woods, Klaus steamrolled over all of her dreams until all she wanted was him, yes she still wanted adventure and travels and studies but she wanted it with him. As much as it pained her to admit, that taste in the woods of being with someone who truly loved and worshipped her opened up a new hunger, which she constantly craved.

She had heard about Hayley from Tyler, in one of his vindictive moments, so eager to extract revenge on her after her shenanigans with Klaus. She felt hurt, confused and a bit pissed off but with a little sleuth work she discovered that Klaus’ relationship with Hayley did not go further than the child, or the pregnancy and when the constant supernatural turmoil’s caused her to lose the baby, it was Elijah’s shoulder she cried on, not Klaus’ (Damon proved quite the information gatherer, she had no idea who his sources were but it sounded legit).

So when she arrived in New Orleans it was not Hayley or the unborn child that caused her to retreat into shadows but another factor in the irony that was her life. It was a week after she arrived in New Orleans that she finally plucked up the courage to go to him. She half expected him to sense when she arrived in the city and send for her immediately, but he did not. Perhaps she was stealthier than she realized or perhaps he was just too busy but either way she went unnoticed as she spent her days in tears and her nights roaming the dusty streets of New Orleans.

When she was human she constantly felt as if Bonnie and Elena left her out, had their own little secrets and personal jokes while she was left to just ‘figure things out on her own’ but this had left her with good deduction skills, and so during the week she become strategic about who she spoke to, who she befriended, who she bumped into it. Her peppy cheerleader attitude helped her to make friends with different supernatural creatures who thought they were providing her with harmless information but each little bit helped her to puzzle together the big picture.

She learnt that Klaus had crafted a web of groupings, of loyalties, of confidantes and allies and the only way to get close to the original hybrid was to ‘bump’ into him at his local watering hole. This seemed easy enough for Caroline, she knew without a doubt that once he saw her he would bypass every security measure his silly kingdom had set up in order to be by her side, to wipe away her pain and to tell her it was okay to feel hurt over what she had done (even if he didn’t believe it himself), but the sight that welcomed her as she crept into the bar was an image that would rip away all her hopes for a reconciliation.

Klaus sat at the bar, his mouth meeting a glass of scotch, he had an easy smile on his face, almost as if this was one of the few times that he was truly relaxed. She edged into a booth near the door and just watched for a moment his beautiful face without the contorted lines of worry and anger, just happy and content. He set his drink back onto the bar and called over the bartender, expecting to see a burly man with neck tattoos Caroline was surprised to see the bartender was actually a pretty blonde human seemingly in her twenties. Klaus said something to her, Caroline assumed he was asking for another drink, when the bartender laughed and reached for Klaus’ hand across the bar. Caroline expected him to pull his hand away or to simply leer at her but instead he turned his hand around until their palms were facing and the look he gave her was one of affection as if they lived in a bubble and none of the other patrons in the bar existed.

At that moment she felt sick to her stomach. She could not believe how dumb she was, that she made such a grave mistake again. You see, Human Caroline tended to jump into relationships head first and then throw everything in - her body, her heart, her soul - but the lesson that Vampire Caroline learnt was that her body could heal, her mind could move on but the wounds in her heart and her soul took far too long to get back to normal. She learnt to case her heart away, protect it from overexposure, from pain. With Tyler she gave him her body and her mind and it took a while before he conquered her heart, earning the 'all-nighter' but their relationship was a constant stop-and-go and at times she didn’t feel as if she was in relationship, like she was pledging commitment to some unseen god.

But with Klaus everything was a whirlwind, she attempted to give just her body to appease the craving that she had but with every caress, every smile, every kiss he weaseled his way further and further into her heart until every beating was for him. She straightened her stoic mask after the sixth round of lovemaking when he had to leave and she had to show her face at the Salvatore Mansion, but even then she knew deep down that she was no longer the same girl that had entered the woods searching for Matt.

But yet here she was again, watching as the object of her affections preferred another. She immediately began comparing herself to the other blonde woman, she was older, more experienced, probably more understanding. In that moment she realized that this was probably why it was so easy for Klaus to promise never to return, to walk away, because he wanted to get her out of his system, he wanted to clear the air because he had someone already waiting for him in New Orleans. It hurt. It hurt far more than when Jake Fell told her he only dated her because she was ‘easy’, he hurt more than when Damon told her she was ‘worthless’ or when Matt saw her as a monster and Tyler didn’t see her as a priority. All of these heartbreaks made her into the strong woman she was, but she would not want to relive any of them and here Klaus was showing her that she still had not experienced true pain. The beautiful words, the promise of forever was all just a show so that he could conquer her and feel accomplished. But he succeeded, she felt just like a soldier who was left for dead on a battlefield that the victors had long since vacated.

That night she intended to leave the city right away so she made her way to her motel room, gathered up her belongings and checked out. Washington, Texas, Alaska, any place was better than living in a city with the knowledge than in one of those homes somebody else was in Klaus’ arms, he was worshipping someone else’s body with his hands, his lips, his eyes, someone else was now the center of his world. No, she needed to get as far away from him as possible, she did not want to be confronted with her own inadequacy whenever she walked down the street.

She was on her way to catch a late bus when she heard the scream. She turned around swiftly, it was a large city, crime was inevitable but what she saw made her uneasy. A tall, sandy blonde man was towering over a young brunette woman, she couldn’t have been older than seventeen, the man’s hand was over her mouth while his mouth was in her neck, shamelessly feeding from her as the tears poured down her face. In that moment Caroline saw Amy. She thought back to the decision that she made that evening to kill the girl instead of helping her. Fate had given her another chance, she might have made the wrong choice that night but now she could actually save another girl from a similar fate.

She used her vampire speed to rush to the aid of the young girl, yanking the vampire off her. He must have been newly turned, a new nightwalker in Klaus’ ranks who was not taught to control his thirst, she tried to get him to stay away from the girl but his cocky nature did not work in his favor as he did not like being bested by a female. He kept on attacking Caroline until the only thing that she could do was to break a leg off a chair in a nearby dumpster and stake the insolent creep. The victim was barely conscious when Caroline fed her blood and as Caroline compelled some story for her, and she nodded, Caroline pulled her back and asked her her name. “Sarah,” she whispered as she walked back into the night.

That evening Caroline returned to her motel room, and began a list of her own. Ripper Stefan had his list of victims and she countered that with her list of people that she saved while she was in New Orleans. The city was a supernatural hotspot but it also allowed them to be careless, to kill, to injure, to destroy and that was how she found her purpose. There was no one with supernatural strength fighting for the humans and that was the role that she was going to fill. Letting girls, like Amy should have, grow up, return to their families, live out their dreams and have the fulfilling life that she would never know.

* * *

 

_Present day_

"What are you doing here?" His voice still a whisper as he continued to stare at her dumbstruck.

"In this alley?" She laughed humorlessly, "Well I'm saving this innocent girl from the big bad vampire and it seems like his evil hybrid master too."

“No, I meant here, in New Orleans.”

She rolled her eyes. “Well I came here for you, but when I saw you had moved on, I found a place for myself in your kingdom. a need, a purpose. And while I know I am going against your code, killing without your permission. I only kill when it is absolutely necessary, when the vampire is attempting to kill the victim or he or she refuses to give up once I have intervened. I hope that perhaps we can work on some sort of deal, I don’t mean to undermine your position but I believe my role is crucial.”

Klaus was taken aback by her business-like tone, it was as if they did not know each other, like they did not have a history, she was just another fearful member of his city begging for mercy. Did she not know that she was the exception?

Klaus sighed before saying, “Marcel and Davina, you may leave.” The twosome looked at him curiously before obeying his order and vacating the area.

Caroline stared after them pensively, “Oh so this was all just a show in order to catch me, good job Klaus, I need to be more vigilant in the future.”

Klaus growled, “There will be no more future run ins, you’re coming home with me now.”

Caroline recoiled, “Please don’t treat me like I’m some abandoned puppy in need of a home. I’ve been taking care of myself for six months. Just tell me when and where my disciplinary hearing or council or whatever you do with those that misbehave in your kingdom will be.”

“Caroline,” he pleaded with her, “Please, just let us just talk."

"Why?" She asked, "I won't tell your little bartender about our forest rendezvous if that's what you are worried about. I've long since given up hope on this." She gestured between the two of them.

Klaus' eyes widened, "Caroline, it isn't how it seems."

“Then how is it? You didn’t pursue me only to have sex with me and then move on to your next little blonde fling. All those flowery words and promises of forever were just empty gongs!” She was shouting, unleashing all the pent up rage that was inside of her since she spotted him in that bar that night, even though she told herself that she was a grown up now, no more childish temper tantrums because of jealousy.

“Don’t forget,” he hissed at her, “You are the one who told me to leave and never come back. Your words told a totally different story. What am I supposed to believe Caroline? One moment you’re spurring out hate at me, they next you are kissing me as if you had been thirsting for my taste all your life, then you expect me to walk away as if nothing happened.”

“Like that was so hard to do!” She spat at him, “You had Girl Number 2 all warmed up and ready when you came back.”

“You didn’t want me!” He exclaimed, “What was I supposed to do?”

“Oh I don’t know? Have some continuity? Don’t pretend I’m something special and then after fucking me give up!”

He closed his eyes slowly, “Don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

“Don’t cheapen what we had to fucking.”

She laughed humorlessly again, “Oh Klaus, you already did that when you moved on so fast. That’s how I felt. Fucked over. Royally fucked. By the king himself.”

She turned away from him again, “Anyway, I’m exhausted after this theatrical performance and our little reunion. If you need to notify me to talk about deals we need to make, you can find me at room 41 at Crescent Palms Motel.”

He grabbed her hand, lightly tugging on it, the feel of her soft skin beneath his hand bringing too many memories to the surface. “Caroline,” he pleaded with her, “please.”

She glanced back at him, her eyes revealing a sadness and regret which her previous defiant nature didn’t not allow her to show, she shook her head slowly before speeding into the night.  

* * *

 

Klaus stood in the alleyway longer than was necessary, staring that the spot that she had just vacated. He knew that if Marcel and Davina were not with him he would have thought it was a dream. That she, the woman who kept within the palm of small hand with the peach-painted nails his heart, his purpose, and his life. Every day, every night, he dreamt of her coming to him, no matter how unlikely it seemed. He lived a thousand years without putting too much hope or faith in people, but that evening in that teenage girl’s bedroom, in the middle of a small town, he learnt what it is like to have hope beyond reasonable doubt.

That day in the forest he told her that he would never return, that he would never bother her or attempt to charm her again. It was a promise to her to give her peace of mind, but it was also a promise to him to will himself to fall out of love with her. To accept what the fates had thrown at him and to move on. But he couldn’t.

You see when he entered those woods; he expected nothing more than a simple confession, just Caroline saying that she felt some sort of attraction to him that she was not oblivious to him, but what he received was far more than what he bargained for.  Her lips against his were indescribable. Over the ten centuries that he walked the earth he had kissed many women, women with experience, women who were well trained in the arts of pleasuring men. But it was this one particular teenage girl, newly turned vampire, from the middle of a  small town, who elicited so much emotion from him, which the courtesans and queens of the world could only envy.

When she allowed him to make love to her he was certain that it was a dream, the most sensational dream he had ever had and god have mercy on the man that dared to wake him. It was the most real and unguarded he had ever seen her, it was her reprieve from her straight-laced life and he was willing to take what he could get. The way she moaned his name, the way she held onto his hair as if it was a lifeline, the way she wrapped her legs around him pushing him in further into a tight sheath. Oh, that night haunted him.

There was a dull ache in his gut every time he remembered that night and the pure happiness that he felt for the first time in his life. Every good moment in his life was marred by pain and sadness and this no exception. How was he supposed to fulfill his promise, to leave and never return when she opened that window and bared herself physically and emotionally to him? How was he supposed to come back from that? He knew from then on that everything else in his life would pale in comparison to that utopia that they created amongst those trees in the middle of a small town that day.

That ache returned when the hood fell and he saw her face again. He did not think of scenarios or reasons why she would be in New Orleans, childishly, he thought that she appeared there simply because he willed her there. In every situation he searched for Caroline. He would search for her as long as he is cursed to walk the earth.

But here she was the entire time, breathing the same air as him, her feet tracing the same roads that he walked everyday, her hands grazing the same walls, and he had no idea that the person his mind was searching for and the one his heart was searching for was one and the same.  But yet she said she came to New Orleans for him, even though he knew there must have been something deeper behind it, a reason why she did not leave and return to Mystic Falls when her original plans failed, a reason why she was obsessed with helping the human girls, a reason why she appeared fidgety and cut off.

She was not the same Caroline that he left in the woods that day, her light, her beauty, her passion was there, but there was a dark cloud hanging over her, and he knew in that moment that he would use all that he had in his arsenal to win her over, so that she should claim her place at his side and he would peel away the darkness that was eating at her.

The search was over, it was time for the conquest to begin.

 

**  
  
**


	2. Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus and Caroline discuss the state of their feelings, and the future of her vigilantism.

The alleyway was derelict and dirty, it seemed on the edge of town that not even the vagrants braved loitering in, a strong stench of blood filed her senses as she slowly crept through the darkness, her cell phone providing the little light so that she could forge a path ahead of her.

At the end of the alleyway was a beat down door, almost falling off it’s hinges and Caroline tossed it aside, the smell of blood becoming more and more potent. The light from her phone shone on the inside wall and she spotted a light switch close to the door. Flicking it on, it made a buzzing noise as a single measly light bulb in the centre of the room flickered on and provided the room with dull lighting.

It was a tiny excuse of a room, and was probably used as a sort of quarters or office area for the custodians of the building before it fell into disrepair. But it was not the state of the room that made Caroline gasp and fall against the wall, but what was in the center of the floor.

Laid as if they were preschoolers having their afternoon nap, were seven young women. Their eyes were closed, their bodies were intact, their clothing were unruffled, they seemed untouched if it was not for the wound at each of their necks, and the fact that Caroline could not hear any heart beats.

In the center of the row with three girls on either side of her was placed a blonde girl, who looked about nineteen years old. She had curly hair that tapered down her shoulders and was wearing a mini skirt, tank top and cardigan. She almost resembled Caroline in her high school/college days to the T. On the girl’s torso was a sheet of white paper, folded once. Caroline’s hands shook as she picked it up and lightly opened it.

On the page, in generic typed letters were the words, ‘Happy Birthday Caroline.’

 

* * *

 

She rested her head against the cold tiles of the shower. It was the third shower that she had taken since she returned from the godforsaken alleyway but just like the days after she ran from Whitmore, she constantly felt an itch as if she was always dirty, that she needed rub harder, scrub better, to get everything off. But even more than that she wanted to scrub away the sight of those dead girls laying on that cold floor, the stench of their rotting flesh and blood, the empty pit in her stomach which reminded her that those girls’ lives were cut short because of her, because someone had some form of vengeance against her.

Those girls probably had promising futures ahead of them, one might have wanted to be a doctor, another might have been engaged, yet another could have been taking care of her ailing grandmother, but because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time they would never be able to live out the lives that they had planned.

The day after her run in with Klaus she had received a note in that all too familiar script that she remembered from the drawing that she had once held so dear and then impulsively allowed to lie in shreds on the floor at that tacky dance.

 

_Caroline,_

_Your ‘disciplinary hearing’ will be held October 10, which coincides with our ball with will be held in honor of Blood Donation Clinics of New Orleans, a cause which I’m sure you would support._

_The dress code is formal._

_Klaus_

 

As if he read her mind, her eyes fell on the box on the mat outside her motel room, and she was instantly reminded of when she was put in a similar predicament by him before his family’s ball. So much had changed since then, to her, between them, that girl that gasped when she held the beautiful Bleu de France dress in her hands was now just a distant memory.  

The box unveiled a different type of dress, one that permitted her to think that Klaus was well aware that she was not the same Caroline that he left in the woods that day. The dress, was a long black evening gown, with straps that crossed over the chest. It was conservative but seductive and totally compliant with what she would have chosen for herself, even though her version would have had to have been from a bargain bin and telling by the Donna Karan tag inside, Klaus didn’t stray from the designer racks.

She was so certain that he was over her, but then why go to the effort of finding her a dress to wear? Was it guilt? Did he think this was some way to appease her over the words they had exchanged? Or did he just not think that she would own anything that would be deem appropriate enough to be worn to his fancy ball? She could spend hours mulling over the reasons that Klaus did what he did but if his actions the previous night was any indication, she could not even begin to understand his reasonings.

It felt inappropriate to be doing ordinary things such as attending a ball when she had just caused the death of seven young women. Although her altercation with Klaus ruffled her, she still believed that until she had her meeting with Klaus and the other factions, she was still at liberty to do her job in the city. So she went out every night and roamed the streets in case she was needed. Usually, she would help human victims at the most, twice a week, but this week was the exception as everyday she heard a scream. The scream was high pitched, different every time, as her usual protocol, she rushed to the source only to discover no one there. The first few times she thought that she imagined it, she had become so in tune to the alarmed scream of victims that perhaps she had begun to hear it when it didn’t exist. After that she thought maybe it was a false alarm, perhaps the girls were screaming for something else, or maybe someone else saved them. She kept making up excuses to appease her worrying heart until she got the note telling her to go to that room on the side of that derelict building and the real fate of those girls was discovered.

Perhaps she was out of her depth, perhaps it was time for her to move on. With her identity exposed it was like she had one large target on her back, who’s to know who she might have pissed off over the six months she was in New Orleans - who did she prevent from enjoying a meal, whose pride did she hurt, whose friend did she kill as part of her quest to save the city. But maybe now that she was no longer hidden in the shadows, it was time for someone to take her place, and for her to attempt to use what she had learnt to aid another city.

Because added to the fact that now the vampires probably knew who she was, they would be expecting her and there would constantly be those who try to attack or kill her, and she wasn’t immortal. Those who were now targeting her were definitely smart, they had done their research, they knew that the best way to affect her would be to play on her guilty conscience and her need to help others, they knew that it was her birthday and even the way the girls who were attacked looked, they resembled her so she feared for her mother who was still back home in Mystic Falls. If they knew so much about her, surely they knew about her mother - her beautifully oblivious mother - who at this very moment was probably getting ready for work, phoning Stefan or Elena to ask if they had any news about her while she wolfed down her cereal. Her mother would be a form of leverage on her until she passed, because Caroline was certain that she would do anything in her power to make sure that her mother remained safe. The world was a safer place for Elizabeth Forbes if Caroline ceased to exist and lived only as a shadow, a title, a mystery.

Then there was the Klaus factor. As much as she liked to pretend that she stayed in New Orleans purely in order to save helpless humans, there was a part of her that relished being close to him, under his nose, outwitting and outsmarting him at every turn, having this power over him that was not just what he willingly gave her because of his romantic feelings for her, this was a power that she took from him, in a place where he believed he ruled supreme and until she donned a hood and began to clean up the messes that he didn’t even bother to know was there. But her attachment was becoming unhealthy, she couldn’t live her life constantly looking over her shoulder for him, fearing that she would see him with the bartender, or he would recognise her, or her game would be up. She needed to begin to live her life to the fullest, to come out of the shadows, perhaps create a new identity and be able to love again, to make new friends, snip the ties of her previous life and be renewed.

This all ran through her mind as she packed up her the few items of clothing that she travelled with into her suitcase (oh how she had changed), before changing into the stunning black dress that Klaus had bought her. Tonight she would say her necessary goodbyes, perhaps meeting the famous bartender that had stolen Klaus’ heart, and she will advocate for more to be done for the humans in the city so that once she leaves their hopes would not be desolate. she would make sure that there is a contingency plan before she says goodbye to New Orleans and Klaus forever.  

 

* * *

 

“Klaus, can I have a word?” He turned around to see Marcel walking towards him urgently, he brushed aside one of his other workers who was asking some mundane question about the lights in the garden (even though Klaus remembered distinctly telling him four times the exact constellation in which they had to be arranged).  

“Yes, what is it Marcel?” Klaus responded, he could not imagine what his protege could be worried about at this moment.

“The vampires are growing restless, ever since Le Protecteur has been revealed. They were demanding her head and since you have laid out an order not to touch her it seems an awful lot like you’ve gone soft and they are taking the law into their own hands. There is only so much I can do to stop them.”

Klaus growled in response, “What is wrong with these insolent fools? I specifically told them that this whole Le Protecteur business is being sorted out. Have I ever given them reason to doubt my abilities in the past? Make sure to let them know that if any of them even dares to go after _Le Protecteur_ without my orders, I will personally make sure that they die in an extremely painful way.”

Marcel nodded dutifully before turning around and walking away.

Klaus was going to turn back to the garden when he saw a familiar blonde head approach him, and he began to turn his attention to her instead.

“Camille,” he greeted her with a smile, “You are here early, I thought you would be fashionably late as usual.”

She grinned back at him, “Yes, yes I know that, I was hoping I could talk to you before.”

“I sure am popular today, what can I help you with?”

“Well I haven’t seen you in a while and I was chatting to Marcel a couple of days ago and he said between the two of you, you unmasked _Le Protecteur_ and he said it appeared as if you knew her -”

“Marcel shouldn’t be running his mouth off about things he knows nothing about,” Klaus interrupted angrily.

“Don’t worry, calm down,” she said soothingly as she stroked his arm comfortingly, “He was just telling me, I suppose he was worried about you. He asked me if I had heard you speak of a ‘Caroline’ before and I said I hadn’t, which is true, in all our conversations you have never said that name. But then I told Marcel that it might just be that she was another vampire that you had crossed paths in the millennia that you’ve been alive.”

“Which is true,” Klaus injected.

“But then Marcel began to describe how she looks and it felt oddly familiar,” Klaus tensed as she spoke on, “But not familiar like someone I had met before, familiar as in like I saw her likeness in paintings and sketches, like she was someone’s muse.” Camille looked up at him knowingly, “She is the girl that’s in all the paintings in your studio, the ones that you keep locked up in the that wooden closet.”

Klaus narrowed his eyes, and Camille carried on speaking, “That is the reason why you haven’t acted against her yet, why you are putting on this show of a ball, and a disciplinary hearing, when we all know if it was anyone else you would have killed her on the spot for even daring to threaten your authority. The only other people you have been this lenient with was your family and Marcel.”

“Or perhaps, it is because I think she offers some form of value to New Orleans, she just went about it the wrong way by not consulting me first. You should be grateful for her, she’s helping out your people,” Klaus pointed out.

“I am, believe me, I am, she has made this city a lot safer for humans, and I won’t tell anyone about your connection to her, but because I care for you, I want you to be wary of her,” Klaus tutted in disbelief but Camille pressed on, “I know you think know her, but one thing I know for sure is that people can change at a drop of a hat and they can fool the most intelligent of beings especially if they know that they hold affection for them. But through all your emotions you need to be on guard. Why did she come to New Orleans? Why didn’t she seek you out, she’s been here over six months? Why all the secrecy? What does she get in return for helping the girls? This entire setup does not make sense and you cannot let whatever feelings you had for her to cloud your judgement. Your first priority should be to rule New Orleans fairly and that means doing what’s best for the city regardless of any lingering feelings you have.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about, Cami,” Klaus growled as he moved his arm out of her grasp, “This girl means nothing to me, the only reason I haven’t struck back yet is because I know her, I know that if I respond with hostility she would shrink away and offer no information, but beyond any part she plays Caroline responds well to affection and kindness, she longs to see the good in people no matter how hopeless the case might be, and she would be more keen to work alongside us if I treated her kindly.”

Camille looked at him apprehensively, “Just be careful, I would hate if something had to happen to you.”

“Thank you Camille, your concern is endearing, but if you could excuse me, I need to go welcome my guests,” he said, eager to get away. He knew that Camille had good intentions and that she was looking out for him but even she could not even comprehend what Caroline meant to him, how hurting her was not even an option. That she was not the cause of his problem, she was the solution, and he needed her beside him, even if he had to sign every treaty in existence, New Orleans would be lead better by a man inspired, a man yoked in the presence of his muse, a man with motivation, and passion and need.

He had long since given up hope for his own redemption, no matter how much Elijah and Cami tried to persuade him otherwise, but deep within the recesses of his heart he knew that if anything would be a catalyst for change within him, to make him love and care more, to make him want to do better, it would the beautiful specimen of a woman that was making her way up his front steps.

His mouth went dry, he inhaled a short breath, and he was unable to take his eyes off of her her as she glided towards him like an ethereal goddess, and he knew without a flicker of doubt, that he would never stop loving this woman.

 

* * *

 

She saw Klaus at the top of the front steps, and those pestering butterflies which she was certain that she killed six months ago returned. In wasn’t so much because of the fact that he looked good (and he did) but more so in the way he looked at her, almost in a minute she was taken back to a similar situation when she entered the Mikaelson family ball and Klaus turned around to stare at her in awe. At that moment she was still filled with doubt as she was sure that his invitation to her was part of some great ploy that he was planning, but she could not help feeling a sense of pride, yes she had stunned the Original Hybrid into silence, not bad for a 18-year-old baby vampire.

But now he has that look again. And he looks so handsome again. And her palms are sweating again. And it’s oh so difficult to pretend to be indifferent, to pretend that he doesn’t unhinge her, when he’s looking at her like this again, when he’s buying her perfect dresses, when he’s licking his lips like he’s trying desperately to remember the taste of her. She lets out a frustrated sigh as she ascends the steps, she was so convinced that she was over him, that she had moved on, that he was no longer a factor in her life. But now she wasn’t so sure, as he offered her a genuine smile, his dimples showing, a smile that she had missed from her life, a smile that she all too often recalled at night just before she fell asleep, a smile that that day in the middle of the Mystic Falls forest filled with her heart with joy, and still has the same effect.

“Hey Klaus,” she said as she approached him.

He carried on smiling at her and responded with his signature, “Hello Caroline.”

There was so much she could have said in that moment, so many unresolved questions and feelings, but all she could think about was right it felt to be there with him, how for the first time in the longest time she felt a semblance of happiness and warmth, but that was before she walked into the front room, and saw the familiar face of the bartender chatting to one of the other guests. Oh so that’s still a thing.

Klaus moved to remove her coat, and part of her wanted to shirk away from him and just do it herself, to be completely cold and distant, but in a rare moment the irrational part of her brain won out and she allowed him to slowly peel away her coat, his hands lingering longer than necessary on her shoulders. She closed her eyes briefly, reveling in the coarse texture of his fingers, which her vivid memory was all too familiar with, if he was never going to touch her again, and it would take longer than normal for her to get over him, she would indulge in any touch of his she could get.  

As she disposed of her coat, Klaus draped it around his arm. “I shall just go check this quickly, you should mingle in the meantime,” he commented with a small smile before leaving her.

A pool of dread filled her abdomen, she didn’t know these guests, perhaps some of them were well-seasoned vampires who were looking for a reason to attack her for killing their own, what if someone asked about how she knew Klaus. Through all the turmoil of the last week she did not even attempt to think up a cover story.                                    

She stood alone, awkwardly, sizing up the other guests, when she heard someone clearing their throat behind her. She turned around slowly to discover the blonde bartender standing there in a floor-length white gown, holding a champagne flute out to her with a warm smile.

“You must be the famous Caroline,” She exclaimed as she offered her the glass and held out her hand to shake Caroline’s, “I’m Cami.

Caroline took her hand and took the glass from her with the other hand, “Thank you, um famous?”

Cami laughed, “Well I don’t mean famous, as most people don’t even know who you are, I suppose I mean notorious because everyone knows Le Protecteur, and even more so you have to be pretty darn special for Klaus Mikaelson to hold you in such high esteem.”

Caroline blushed and took a sip of her champagne. Klaus must have held this Cami in high esteem if he told her about their relations. In a strange way, she felt a bit saddened that Klaus was so cavalier in talking about their past, as if it meant nothing to him. In the precipices of her heart she still believed that perhaps he was so distant with her because he wanted to protect her, she did not realize that maybe it was because she was insignificant to him.

“Not that Klaus has said anything to me about you,” Cami carried on, “Only that you were a vampire he has met previously during his traveling but you have made enough of an impression on him that he has relooked at your situation and is very gracious towards it, I do believe that if _Le Protecteur_ was anyone else they would be missing a head right now.”

Caroline shuddered and laughed nervously, “Well Klaus and I did run in similar circles a year or so ago.”

“And then again, there’s all the paintings…” Cami added on.

“Paintings?” Caroline asked.

“Klaus is a very guarded man, even with those, like me who are in his inner circle, so it was simply by chance that I came across his private studio and saw stacks and stacks of paintings of a young blonde woman who was not me, the likeness was unfamiliar to me, until you walked in tonight.”

“And you and Klaus…” Caroline questioned testingly.

Cami laughed and responded, “I’m his colleague, therapist, friend even.”

Caroline was taken aback, “Therapist?”

“I’m a psych student at Notre Dame, apparently Klaus needed someone to talk to and I needed a thesis topic,” she replied.

“That seems very out of character for Klaus,” Caroline noted, “When I knew him he barely revealed anything about himself unless it was part of a greater plot.”

Cami didn’t seem phased, “I guess people change, having a child can change one’s perspective and priorities.”

Caroline took a sip of her champagne, she never stopped to think of the effects the pregnancy and death of his child might have had on him, perhaps that was why he had lost interest in her? Because she had represented  a time that was trivial in his life, the high school and hybrid drama of Mystic Falls was nothing when weighed against all that had transpired in New Orleans.

“So tell me more about the work you two do together?” She asked Cami in an effort to change the subject.

“Well it’s all part of the structure of the city, our way of maintaining the peace. Klaus and Elijah have assembled a council representing each of the dominant supernatural and human species in the city and we work together under Klaus in order to sort through conflicts and orders. I represent the human faction, as my uncle did before me, Marcel represents the vampire faction, Vincent the witch faction,  and Jackson the werewolf faction. You’ll probably meet the rest of them throughout the course of the evening.”

“So what do you intend to do about the dwindling population of the young girls in the city?”

“I was under the impression that you had that covered,” Cami responded haughtily.

“Well I’ll be leaving town soon, but I would like to know that there will something put in place that would help the young girls when I’m not here,” Cami just continued to stare at her, “I guess I’ll talk to Klaus about it,” Caroline added.

Cami’s mouth was in a thin line when Caroline excused herself to get another drink.

 

* * *

 

He found her standing at the bar conversing with Jackson, who was telling her all about the plight of the werewolves in the bayou, she commented at intervals, adding in what little she knew about Tyler’s experience with the infliction.

He interrupted when he heard a lull in their conversation, “Sorry love, do you mind if I steal you away for a moment?” The place was full of people but the only person he wanted to be around was her.

She nodded nondescriptly and Jackson allowed her to leave. “He seems like a nice guy,” Caroline gestured to Jackson.

“He’s okay,” Klaus shrugged.

“He really holds a torch for Hayley though, kept asking me questions about her in Mystic Falls, I think he wasn’t all that pleased that I didn’t have many happy memories of her. She’s really hot stuff here in New Orleans.”

Klaus chuckled, “Come along, I want to show you something.”

She followed him through the hallways of his excessive home until he led her down to a cellar, which he had to enter a code in to enter.

There were racks upon racks of wine bottles adorning the walls, some looked dusty and antique, while others seemed newer and flashier. But on the furthest side of the room was a cabinet that was protected behind a padlock.

“Is this where you kill me?” Caroline deadpanned.

“Love, if I wanted to kill you I would have done it all those years ago when you first told me what you thought of me,” he responded with a chuckle.

He moved over to the cabinet, “No I was serious about wanting to show you something.” He unlocked the lock.

“This feels like déjà vu,” Caroline mused, “Me at a ball at your house, you stealing me away to show me something.”  
  
Klaus turned around, a bottle clutched in his hand, and smiled softly.

“Except,” Caroline continued, “The first time you wanted to show off your snazzy artistic skills, and this time you just want to get me drunk.”

“Not at all, love,” Klaus interjected, “This wine is far too young for us to drink, maybe in a couple of years.” He handed the bottle over to her.

The brand was one she was not familiar, French-looking, but the date on the bottle was ‘2012’.

“This is an odd year,” she commented, I would have thought you wouldn’t have anything younger than like 1960 or something.”

“I see you don’t remember my history class,” he said, “I wasn’t a fan of the 1960s. But the significance of this bottle is that it’s my favorite brand but more importantly 2012 was the year that I fell in love with you.”

Silenced enveloped the room, and Caroline suddenly found his knuckles grazing her free hand, the one that was not clutching the bottle tightly.

She tensed up, “But why?”

He withdrew his hand and she felt a pang of disappointment, he ran his hand threw his hair.

“Because Caroline,” he sighed, “Despite what you might think, I’m not over this,” he gestured between them, “You,us, what transpired. I don’t know what you think is happening between Camille and I but I can assure you that it is nothing more than friendship and mutual sense of respect. But you see Caroline, even if I slept with every woman in this city I would not be able to erase you from my mind.”  
  
She scoffed and he moved closer to her, “I am a collector - letters, coffins, wine - all part of innate need to hold onto what I see as important and significant. You see, I’m all too familiar with how fast life goes, how things can be forgotten in a moment, how changes take place, so when I discover or experience or feel something unique I need to find a way to treasure that, and the wine is one of those outlets. As you can see in this cabinet that the amount of bottles that I have stored are not many and most of them pertain to milestones in my quest for power - when I conquered New Orleans for the first time, when i found Katerina, when I broke the hybrid curse - then there were the very few times when I had good times with my family over the years, and then there is you. I was very reluctant to admit to myself the role you played, merely trying to pass you off as a passing fancy, but even I wasn’t fool enough not to notice that what I felt for you was different to what I had felt for anyone else.”

Caroline sucked in a breath.

“Last week I allowed you to say your say, too stunned to defend myself, but tonight I just want to tell you that I know you have changed, that something has happened to you, and hopefully one day you will trust me enough to be able to share it with me and allow me to shoulder your burden with you. I, too, have changed, so much has transpired since I last saw you, but I need to tell you, that what remains is what I feel for you.”

He paused, and took one of her hands in between both of his, “This is not an act, or a ploy to get you into my bed. One of the things that you underestimate about yourself is your ability to see through any of my ruses and I just wanted you to know that noone or nothing has and I doubt ever will replace you in my heart. That glorious day in the woods which I thought was your final goodbye to me has haunted me everyday, I had never felt such pain and euphoria at the same time. And last week, when I saw your face again, after it only existing in my dreams and in my artwork, it floored me and it took everything inside me to prevent me from stealing you away this week, to give you your space. But for the first time in my life the love that I hold is unselfish - I need you to be happy more than I seek it for myself.”

“Klaus, I don’t know what you expect me to say,” Caroline said softly.

“You don’t have to respond to me, Caroline,” he said, “You know I will wait however long it takes until you want to discuss it with me. I only told you this so that you would know how ludicrous it is that you thought that I was over you, that you thought I would ever be over you. But I actually wanted to discuss business with you.”

“Business?” Caroline put the bottle down and crossed her arms, “You do know I haven’t even finished college yet.”

“Well not the traditional form of business, and believe me I can teach far more than college ever could.”

“Alright, go ahead Dumbledore, what kind of business?”

“Well despite what you think I actually support the way you protected the civilians over the past couple of months. Don’t get me wrong I haven’t all of a sudden become an activist for the rights of humans, but I do think that if we need to be more careful of exposing ourselves and the supernatural creatures in New Orleans have become cavalier and reckless in their activities and they need to be curbed or at least have some form of restrictions on how they conduct themselves. Secrecy is easy to control in small towns such as Mystic Falls when humans who discover us can be rounded up and killed or compelled but in a big city like New Orleans, where it’s easy to get lost in the crowd or to slip away we need to be more vigilant.”

Caroline took a seat on an armchair that was probably just there for decor as she listened to his proposition, “What I am about to tell you now, is known only by my family, which is why I took you so far out of earshot. Since we become vampires, my siblings and I have travelled the world and because of our abilities, our age, our strength, we were natural royalty. We sired a species and with that came responsibility which we were not ready to assume. We were rulers but we did not know how to rule, so we learnt by trial and error. We governed cities, we made vampires the strongest supernatural race - werewolves and humans were at our mercy, and wherever we went we created lifestyles and ways of governing, but the problem lied in the fact that we were constantly on the run from Mikael, so just as we found our groove in a specific place, our reputation will spread and he will find our location and we were forced to leave everything and run. It was extremely frustrating, but in the 15th century Elijah and I decided that if we could unlock my werewolf side we would be able to control the werewolves and the vampires and in addition to that create a hybrid army which would be able to defeat Mikael and thus we could then rule in peace and create one form of governorship worldwide over all supernatural creatures with envoys and leaders trained and taught by us, and our family would exist as a sort of overseering board, leaders of all, making sure that everything is kept in check. We would be respected and feared by all.”

Caroline leaned in, intrigued, “But you only managed to kill Mikael recently.”

“Exactly,” Klaus continued, “I hate the fact that it took us so long to defeat him, although I have to admit that since Katerina escaped me, I was obsessed with killing her, and breaking the curse more than controlling lands or finding other ways to kill Mikael. But nevertheless, this is where we currently stand: Mikael is dead, but so are my hybrids; I currently rule New Orleans and both the vampire and werewolves, but as you have noted there is still so much that needs to be ironed out. My siblings and I have noted that before we begin to conquer more cities and supernatural areas we have to make sure that we govern New Orleans properly before we expand and work on our original goal to unite all the supernatural creatures under one banner. Elijah, Rebekah, Marcel and Jackson have already began to create structures such as vampires who have duties to compel humans who have been exposed to our secret, vampires and werewolves who are in charge of security and enforcement, those who fight in our armies, and various other duties. But I do believe that you will be an asset to our team, not only because I know the type of person that you are but because you found the holes in the system, you helped to fix it and even more than that you went undiscovered for six months, there is a lot that you can contribute in how we govern this city, and going further as our bigger plans come into play. Also I think that you can learn a lot from my siblings and I and even Marcel.”

Caroline was overwhelmed by his request, “So you want me to join your council?”

“Well yes, as one of the advisors eventually but perhaps to begin with you could just work with Elijah and myself as we strategize and work out ways to rule the city better, and after you are more comfortable and have learnt more about the city and what we have done so far you could become a member of the council.”

“I was actually going to leave New Orleans after the party,” she said testily, looking up at him slowly.

“You know that I would not stop you if that is what you truly want, but I would like to ask you to please consider my request. There is so much you could do to help this city, and even more than that, we could help you reach your full potential. Just think about it,” Klaus got up and started walking to the door, “And now I think I have kept you from the party for too long.”

Caroline got up from the armchair and started making her way to the door. Klaus held it open and allowed her to walk out first. She waited for him as he closed the door behind him and then walked alongside her up to the ballroom of the mansion, his hand gently on the small of her back as he moved to whisper in her ear, “Oh yes, happy birthday Caroline.” She shivered and he smirked to himself.

“This house is truly beautiful,” She said as she looked around in an attempt to distract herself from the tension between them, whenever he made grand declarations of his feelings for her she always felt off kilter, unable to supply one of her always prepared comebacks or answers. She knew why though, she always knew why, because no one else had ever been so sure of their feelings for her as he was, and no one had felt as strongly about her as he did. There was no preparation in her life for Klaus Mikaelson.

“Well,” Klaus cleared his throat, “If you do accept the job offer, it does include room and board here, we would not want one of our associates staying in a motel without protection.”

Caroline laughed, “This isn’t just another ploy to get me into your bed?”

Klaus scoffed, “Please, I’m much more suave than that. On a serious note, I am glad _Le Protecteur_ turned out to be you, if it was anyone else I would have killed them on the spot and not even considered why they did it. Because it was you, I was forced to consider the benefits of what you did and how it could help the city.”

She nodded and took his hand, “I’m glad too.”

He smiled back at her but as they neared the ballroom, let go of her hand. This was not something he wanted the others knowing about until he knew for certain that Caroline was willing to stay by his side and he had allocated protection to her.

 

* * *

 

It was three days after her birthday and two days after she had accepted Klaus’ offer that she received another note from the murderers of the seven girls. This time she was more prepared however, so she called Klaus and asked him if he or one of his crew could accompany her to investigate something, as even she didn’t know the true nature behind the attacks. Klaus was engaged in other business, but within an hour Marcel was at her door and riding with her to yet another abandoned building. She just hoped that this time the carnage would not be as severe.

The dingy entrance room was empty but she barely walked in when vampires appeared from the shadows and surrounded her. She turned to run away but Marcel caught her and held her arms together, she narrowed her eyes at him, so much for loyalty.

A door opened on the opposite side of the room and Caroline scoffed, “Of course, it’s you.”

“Oh did you work it all out?” Camille said sweetly, “You sure are a lot smarter than your boyfriend.”

“Is this what this is all about? You’re jealous?” Caroline taunted her.

“Please, this isn’t high school, Miss Mystic,” Camille shot back, “I never held any romantic feelings for Klaus, it just took a little bit of digging to discover that what he desired was a blonde to dote on him and make him feel loved, and then he was like putty in my hands. Perhaps I will go to some realm of hell for preying on a vulnerable man but after his daughter died, he was not in the most stable of mind, and he lacked support, and I was there for them so I think that is why he latched onto me. I was situated in Klaus’ confidence for a reason - to keep a close eye on him, to discover his weaknesses and to make sure that he is distracted from the behind the scenes work of Marcel and the rest of those who were fighting to restore our Pre-Mikaelson regime. But then you arrived and started making trouble, firstly messing with our underground arrangement with the vampires, where we provide them with a certain type of meal at a price, and that money funds a number of city projects. Sadly for you, the most requested meal is usually young females. And then there is your influence of Klaus, and your ability to make him look where he shouldn’t, and destroy the work that we have been working on for months. Klaus is much too powerful and resourceful for us to to dispose of him by coup or force so if we would like to continue to rule the city the way we want to, we have to use his weakness against him.”

Camille stroked Caroline’s cheek affectionately, “And that’s where you come in, love.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I’m sorry if this might be long and confusing, I’ve been working on these plots for ages. This fic began as my sort of how I would write Caroline in The Originals story and kind of expanded to my problems with the Originals. So here’s some points I want to make about the fic:
> 
> Number 1 - There are many canonical aspects of TO that I have included in this fic that I’m not particularly a fan of - the baby, the watered down Originals, etc, and it is obvious that I don’t watch the shows because a lot of things are different such as no Hayley, no baby but I have basically taken the first half of TO Season 1 as canon and then attempted to write my version of how it went from there. In this chapter I did add Season 2 characters such as Jackson and Vincent, basically because I needed names.
> 
> Number 2 - I am very much not a fan of the way the show has written Camille as a scratching post for Klaus - it’s unnecessary and extremely insulting. The way her character was first introduced she had a lot of potential to lead the human faction, to create her own plots and intentions, but even more she was situated at the perfect place to become a double agent (like Ward in Agents of SHIELD) because Klaus was unnaturally cavalier with how much he shared with her, and she had a reason to hold a grudge against him for the way that he compelled and used her, I would have loved to see that biting Klaus in the ass in a way he never would have suspected and I attempted to do that in here.
> 
> Number 3 - The whole ‘I want to rule New Orleans’ plot point disappointed me as well, NOLA is one city in the whole world, why only that? In season 2, Klaus was so elusive and seen in such high esteem that vampires had to know a guy who knew a guy to even get a meeting with one of his henchmen, now he’s like Johnny Everyman. I saw the Original family as something greater than just a dude whining that he wants to own a city, I wished the show had stolen the Volturi from Twilight instead of the love triangles and impossible babies. What impressed me about the Volturi is that they were powerful and they kept the vampire colonies in line, that even at the end of Breaking Dawn they couldn’t defeat them because they needed them. They are very obviously morally ambiguous characters but you understand their importance. With supernatural abilities there is a need for them to be kept in check and that is why the Volturi exists, and the Ministry of Magic in Harry Potter, and S.H.I.E.L.D in Marvel. But I thought that it would be too large of a stretch to claim that Klaus could go from barely holding NOLA to ruling the entire supernatural population, so I went the route of Daenerys in Game of Thrones that he first needs to learn to rule a city before he can progress to a nation. I’m a stickler for politics and governorship so I don’t find his paranoia and obsession of only protecting himself and his family worthy of making a good leader/king.
> 
> Number 4 - This entire fic is a progression, a way of introducing Caroline to the narrative with her own role to play, how she can be of use, whereby she’s very much like Oliver Queen, vigilante, ‘Save this city’ type but it is also a progression for Klaus and the Originals to reach their full potential. So next chapter, he’s going to go full on badass again, Marcel will be heard from, and Caroline is going to refuse to be a victim or a pawn again.
> 
> P.S: THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE support. I’m the worst updater ever, but I’m working on changing that and all your support is really encouraging me to get my ass in gear.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I've been extremely nervous about publishing it because it is very different from the fluff that I usually write, so if you have a minute please let me know what you think.
> 
> I know Klaus didn't address the Camille situation in his little soliloquy at the end but it will be spoken about in the next part, right then he just had Caroline on the brain.
> 
> This story came about when I spoke to my friend about ways I want Caroline to be introduced in TO and this was borrowed in part from the Black Canary's introduction in Arrow and I liked the idea of Caroline saving others because she was always protecting everyone in MF like Elena, her parents, Bonnie's mom, Stefan and I think it's a role that would come naturally to her. It also gives her a purpose other than being a romantic interest, which is what her character needs terribly.
> 
> Anyways enough rambling, if you want to hit me up on Tumblr you can find me at queenblairstiara.


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